Signal-Copiahan. (Hazlehurst, Copiah County, Miss.) 1885-1888, 1887-11-03
person and over the age of l6 years.

Q. "What is your aggregate men,
borship, and chiefly in what tcrritoryP
A. "About 100000, chiefly in 8
Southern States"
Q. "Are you not affiliated with the
Alliance of tho Northwest"
A. "wc are not. That was origi-
mated in Chicago. by Milton George,
! brother of the noted Henry George.
Theirs is IN open political organiza-
| tons, end there is not, nor can there
be. any afliliation between u.s."
Q. GLOW was your order received
by tho press and the business men OF
your State, aud how do they regard 1t
now.
A. "At first tho business men trea-
ted the matter very lightly, and pro-
dicted it's early and uttcr failure, and
the press sympathized with that view,
and assumed and declared that We
were secret political order, but now
there is not paper in the whole State
that is not our srcadfast friend, and
tho leading dailies arc giving US their
active and earnest support. The busi-
ness men as rule are most kindly
toward us and our order, and its sue
cess has their confidence and encour-
ageinont. =,
Q. "Well, have you had any trouble
with political parties or politicia nsf"
A. "With the parties as such, no.
Chronic Office seekers, political trick
sters and disappointed soreheads have
given US some trouble, but We are now
in position to paddle our own canoe"
G. "You say you have cotton yards
of your own-will you give me the
methods by which you run these
yards, and something of the benefits
you claim for themi"
A" detailed statement OF the whole
system, would perhaps DO loiger than
you would like to have in your paper
at this time, and rs 1t is tho duty of
myself and ali organizers TO explain
fully and In detail this systc'a to yonr
people, l will give you only al out
line. Each of these cotton yards is
in charge Of a bonded officer--(by the
way all of our officers are bonded,
salaricd men. We have no men paid
in any way by conlmission). We have
every facility that any cotton exchange
or mercantile association has tor OBJ
tanning the exact state of the market
at any point in the world and at any
hour, and our machinery is such that
within one hour from the time our
dispatches are received at State head
quarters, every agent in the State
knows the price of cotton for that day.
and every farmer belonging to the Al
lance can know what his cotton is
worth il lie will ask. So, farmer
bringing his cotton to our yards can
take his sample and 80 on the local
market (and We always encourage
them to do so) and know whether or
not to sell, then we can send sample
to State Headquarters, where we arc
thoroughly prepared to get him tho
prices in the best markets. 1t costs
him from ten to twenty-five cents per
bale to have his cotton weighed
and for storage-no matter how long
he may want it stored. He pays Of
course the insurance which is very lit
tie. We are prepared under the same
system to handle our other products
and our stock. Under this system,
also, we have arrangements perfected
by which we con and do make purcha-
ses for our members, and 80 perfect is
the system that we confidently expect
to make net saving of over one mil
lion dollars to our members during
next year,
Q. "Well, you strike heavy at the
"middle man. by your plan, do you
no:i"
A. 'No, We do not propose to do
away with the middle men-they are
an important factor in our great social
fabric and We could not well do with
out them. We make no war on any
one. We encourages all men engaged
in legitimate business and want to
see them prosper and succeed, but
there are checks and balances which
are essential to the well-bcing ofso-
ciety, and we propose to see that mid
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